Bob Dickinson
Date: February 18, 2007
Cruise Bruise: Wife Arrested For DUI
Bruise Location: Coconut Grove, Florida
Age: Wife-47
Hometown: Tahiti Beach, Florida
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines
Details:
With an extensive press release this week, Bob Dickinson's Carnival Cruise Lines pledge to take a tough stand on alcohol related incidents on Carnival's P & O Cruises. Apparently, that is a message that did not fall on Dickinson's wife's ears.
She was arrested February 18, 2007 for DUI. Not only was this a DUI incident, but it was one of those incidents similar to those plaguing P & O in Australia, with unacceptable behavior while under the influence.
Officer Carole Blanc, working off-duty traffic control for the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, ''attempted to stop the vehicle.'' Instead, Dickinson ``refused to stop and accelerated . . . almost running over the officer.''
Blanc followed the SUV to Grand Bay Plaza at 2665 S. Bayshore, ''where the vehicle crashed into the wall'' and then ''hit an enclosed tent head-on.'' When Dickinson stepped out of the Jeep, police say, they smelled alcohol. Blanc stopped the roadside sobriety test because Dickinson ``was in danger of hurting herself.''
Dickinson then refused to take a road side breath test, as mandated by law. While her attorney was quick to make excuses for the incident, saying it was only a "scratch" [a $2,000 scratch?] and she had on high heels when she took the road side sobriety test [why didn't she remove them if she was sober enough to consider that option?] he did not dare to make a public excuse for her refusal to take the breath test.
Police towed the Jeep, estimating damage at $2,000, and booked her into Miami-Dade County Jail at 12:26 a.m. Monday. She got out at 3:40 a.m. on $1,500 bond.
The Dickinsons are no stranger to alcohol, or the effects it might have if consumed in excess. Excess is a word they are very familiar with on many levels. They have a 20,000-bottle wine cellar in their house in exclusive Tahiti Beach, Florida where homes sell for double digit millions.
Cruise Bruise is wondering about any justice in this case. While Florida has a mandatory driver's license suspension for refusing to submit to a breath test, Dickinson's license was reinstated for "hardship' reasons, so she could drive to court, lawyer and doctor appointments. Since when is a license suspension of the wife of a multimillionaire, who can easily afford a car and driver, a "hardship"?
Perhaps the "hardship" refers to the impact on the local areas' economy if Carnival Cruise Lines placed their vessels in other ports or even other states. Clearly multimillionaire cruise ship moguls do not have "hardships" when it comes to transportation.
While her attorney denies much of this, Jodi apparently was willing to admit, to some degree the DUI part of the incident, telling her friends in an email, "A very sobering, demeaning experience. Many lessons were learned that day, most importantly I will never drink and drive again.''
Bob Dickinson's alcohol related woes widely became public knowledge with the Dianne Brimble case. Then, with the schoolies cruises, which had taken alcohol abuse to the worst possible level, with underage drinking excesses. Carnival admitted in a press release this week their bartenders were paid commission for drink sales, which surely contributed to alcohol excesses and the resulting misbehavior on the P & O Cruises.
Bob Dickinson Alcohol Woes Continue
President and CEO - Carnival Cruise Lines
February 18, 2007
